Radio Tamazuj: SPLM-IO, NAS figured in illegal gold mining, smuggling, and trade

The Sentry, in a new report, singled out the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) and National Salvation Front (NAS) as being involved in mining, taxing, and trading in gold to finance their rebel activities in South Sudan.

The Sentry, a group co-founded by actor George Clooney and activist John Prendergast, released an advisory yesterday titled ‘Understanding Money Laundering Risks in the Conflict Gold Trade from East and Central Africa to Dubai and Onward’.

“This advisory highlights the money laundering risks stemming from the flow of conflict gold from four sub-Saharan African countries affected by armed conflict and corruption—the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Sudan, and Central African Republic (CAR)—with a focus on risks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the destination point for an estimated 95% of gold from East and Central Africa. Because gold is easily smuggled in high volumes, it is frequently used as a money-laundering vehicle by armed groups, criminal networks, and corrupt actors, who can then mask its origins by melting it together with other gold,” the advisory read in part…

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